Retribution
by GoddessUraya-2314
Summary: In a ploy of revenge for a fallen mate, an unsuspecting and invaluable Autobot becomes prey of vengeful sparks. Will he endure, or will he succumb and fall as another spark in the multitudes of those lost during the vastness of the war? Follows the events of DotM (alterations made). Bayverse-AU. Rating may go up later. Review: First full story, and I'm deciding about continuing.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It was deathly silent on the miniscule planetoid they currently resided on. The utter nothingness of space surrounded them, the silence pressing like a dam ready to burst. Although the temperature of vacuum was incomprehensible, it was like a crisply cool breeze against their plating. One of them perched on a large boulder gazing at the other who was pacing in frustration and anxiety. The frame of the one perched on the boulder was visibly racked with tension, his wings extended ramrod straight behind his body. The other's wings were extended behind him, but also had a subtle droop. _What went wrong?_

The question did not need to be verbalized between the two. Before the message - transmitted in a tightly-packed beam from those who had managed to flee the insect-infested planet - had even reached them in their remote location from the system they had been ordered to prepare to invade (or infiltrate), they had known what had happened. The sudden ripping sensation deep within the core of their very life essence, like their sparks had been completely torn from their bodies and their neural lines set ablaze, had been utterly terrifying. However, they instantly knew. Flashes of terror, panic, irritation and pain had flashed over, unbidden and unobstructed, from the other center of their universes. From then on for the next three orns, those agonizing joors had been filled with rage, blinding pain, and sheer terror.

Afterwards, the deafening silence was filled with morose anxiety and the sensation of perpetual emptiness. It was obvious what had happened on that infernal planet light-years away.

_He_ had been taken from them.

In the end, they had ended up grasping at each other, feverishly merging their cores -their very life essences and soul—in a fleetingly reflexive attempt to preserve their sparks and to vainly try to coax their other mate's spark to remaining on this side of the Matrix. The latter had utterly failed.

The one that made them a whole, the spark that completed them, their leader and comrade, their lover had been inexplicably yet unmistakably taken from them. The overwhelming despondency that gripped their sparks in a vice was only aligned with their desperate need of information and their encompassing compulsion – almost like a honed reflex – to avenge their fallen trine mate.

Every now and then, they would catch each other's gaze and the same thirst for vengeance as well as the utterly scarring look of brokenness and despair was reflected in the other's optics. Although they could still feel each other over the bond, the unmistakable gap, the essence missing from their lives was ever present and furthered their despair.

As the silence between them furthered, the tension and despair heightened to the point that they wanted to hurl something across the universe and completely disintegrate. Finally, the one perched on the rock broke the silence.

"Who did it?" His voice was no more than a whisper, quivering on the edges. His optics caught the other's as he discontinued his pacing, standing across from him as motionless as a statue. The other's red optics flashed and grew brighter.

"Obvious, isn't it," the other ground out from clenched dentals. The tense silence reigned upon them once again. The other faintly ground out, "Fragging Autobots."

"Obviously," his optics flashed. It was completely obvious that the Autobots had been involved, anyone could see that. "I was being more specific…"

The one on the rock moved his gaze to the cosmos, staring blankly into vacuum, completely lost in his emotions and thoughts. His mate was obviously as distraught as he was, but they had no leads, no resources besides what limited supplies they had in the cavern they had located and utilized as a temporary camp, and absolutely nothing but their own despair and thirst for vengeance. He felt trapped, lost in a sea of darkness and despair, and he needed release. Glancing at his mate, now his only mate, he pushed himself up from his perch. The tension wrought between them was becoming stifling, and he just needed to escape - even if just for a joor. Returning his gaze back to the vacuum above, he forcefully exhaled - catching the other's attention.

"I'm going for a flight," and without any further protests he leapt into the air, transformed, and blasted off nearly straight up through the planetoids condensed gravitational pull and thin atmosphere. The skies, in flight, were truly where he belonged. It was cliché for his model, but it held true. It gave him a sense of freedom that he failed to find solace in with anything else. _Well, almost anything, _he thought.

As he flashed away into vacuum away from the planetoid, his comm. burst to life.

:Watch for any signatories, 'Warp:

Glancing back at the slowly fading planetoid, he pulsed comfort and his sense of freedom over their shattered bond, hoping to elicit some positive reaction from the turmoil encompassing his mate's spark.

:Will do.:

With that, he cut the link and flared his scanners wide. As he flew, he mulled over the vorns of their trine, the various complexities of his mates, the loss of one, the war and Cause itself, and he fantasized about what he would do if and when he found the one who had terminated his trinemate's spark.

Unbidden, memories from Cybertron, before the war and when they had been a young trine, floated through his processor. Memories filled with thrilling joy, exhilaration, and their unconditional love. Twisting, sweeping, and diving across their home skies; the constant and desirable presence of each other; the challenging yet somehow pleasurably satisfying vorns as the lowest and most downtrodden of castes in a society where only the elites were granted power, voice, and luxury; many a night filled with passion and pleasure…how he wished those days had never ended. Thrust into the ominous and desolate abyss of the never-ending and devastating war.

The price of war had been costly, that much was evident to him from the very beginning. However, he was loyal to their trine. Albeit the Cause was deceptively enticing, the hope of a future with 'opportunity,' it was not what had sold him. No, he had joined out of loyalty to his trinemates - more specifically his now deceased trinemate. It had always been obvious that his other mate had his skepticisms, but had likewise agreed. If only they had grasped the danger posed to their mate and their bondwhen _that_ had happened on that orn, in the final decaorns preceding the war…

_No, you must _not _think about it. Not right now, anyways._

A few joors into his long and silent flight, he picked up a signature on his scanners. After more detailed scans, he positively identified the beacon; a particularly _intriguing_ Autobot. Slowly, a sly smirk - a miniscule return to normalcy - unfolded across his lips as he hovered (more floated) at his current position in the vast universe.

Quickly, he opened the comm. link again.

:I have a positive Autobot signature.:

:Trajectory?:

He couldn't prevent the slight smirk filtering into his voice and across the link.

:Where could a slagging Autobot _possibly _be heading way the frag out here?:

_Cue annoyance: 3-2-1. _He couldn't resist the jab. Honestly, it was rather obvious.

:Affirmative: The irritated sigh floated through also, and that was when he transmitted his scanner's findings back to his mate. There was a stunned pause. :This could prove to have…promising results.:

:My sentiments exactly.:

There was a slight pause.

:Beam me your suggested coordinates.:

There malicious smirks could be felt by each other over the link. Sometimes, karma did choose to exact punishment…in their favor.


	2. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Hey everyone. So, I have decided to continue this fic. However, I am extremely busy right now in the crazy realm known as real life. Currently, I'm writing as much as I can. Hopefully, I'll have an update for you soon as I am really starting to see a direction for this story. Any feedback, comments, or suggestions will _always_ be greatly appreciated. Just thought I'd give you all a little update; this will continue. Thank you so much for reading!


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